Mouthpiece foe- coknets and similar instruments



B. CHiSTiANO.

M'OUTHPIECE FOR comms A-ND SIMILAR iNSTRUMENTS.

v APPUCATIUN FILED AR. 12; T5191 1,305,691.. 5 Patented June 3,1919.

WITNESS I 2 mun-rem 7 M BRUNO caIs'rIANo, or CANONSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

MOUTHPIECE FOR GORNETS AND SIMILAR INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 3, 1919.

Application filed March 12, 1919. Serial No. 282.168.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BnUNo CRISTIANO, subject of the King of Italy, residing at (Janonsburg, in the county of lVashington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mouthpieces for Cornets and Similar Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mouthpieoes for cornets, trombones, alto, tenor, and bass horns, bugles, and the like.

It is the object of my invention to provide a mouthpiece for wind instruments of the types enumerated above, which reinforces and controls the lips so as to hold them firmly in place and enabling the instrument player to execute all notes, particularly those of extremely high pitch, with accuracy and ease. Another object is to provide, for the aforesaid purposes, an attachment for the mouthpieces of said instruments, which may be readily secured thereto and removed therefrom. I provide a number of difier ently shaped attachments adapted to the particular needs or mouth characteristics of players of the said instruments. If one attachment is not satisfactory, others may be attached to the mouthpiece until a perfectly fitting and satisfactorily operating one is selected.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate only a few of the various forms which my invention may assume, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a comet mouthpiece embodying my invention; Fig. 2, an end elevation thereof; Fig. 3, a side elevation with parts in longitudinal .section; Fi 4, a side elevation showing a mouthpiece with the lipengaging attachment omitted, but showing one of the lugs to which such attachment is secured; Fig. 5,. an end elevation of a second form of my invention; and Fig. 6, an end elevation of a third form thereof.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4, the usual mouthpiece is shown with the stem or shank 1, and the cup, bowl, or bell-shaped portion 2 which receives the central portion of the lips, and has the usual circumferential bead 3 at the outer end or mouth of the bowl.

To opposite sides of the bowl 2 I secure my improved lip-holding members 4 designed to extend toward the corners of the mouth and to engage with the lips at the particular places required by the player, and to conform to his particular mouth and lip structures. The drawings can, therefore,

show only in a general way how the lip-- ally from a line below the outer or end face of the bead 3 and gradually beyond the place of the open end of the cup 2 to the point 7 which is the extreme portion needing reinforcement toward the corner of the mouth. From the line of the closed lips, that is from the line III-III, Fig. 2, the Wings extend laterally to form the extension or cars 8, which shape more or less gradually back toward the edge of the cup as they extend around or partially overlap the bead 3, as shown on Figs. 1 and 3. In Fig. 5, the wings 6 are attached only to narrow portions of the cup as shown at 9, to provide for such lips as would be obstructed by such broad attaching portions as are shown at 10 on Fig. 2. In Fig. 2 the ears 8 extend around farther over the central portions of the lips. In Fig. 6, the wings 6 have a broader attaching portion 10 than the portion 10 of Fig. 2, and have the ears 8 extending well around toward the central portion of the lips, while the extreme lateral portions 7 converge more or less gradually toward points.

It is essential to the best action of the mouthpiece to have the wings begin their ascent below the end face of the head 3. In some cases they could arise from the rear edge of the head, while in other cases they might arise at or near the central portion of the bead.

To adapt my invention to the common mouthpiece, I prefer to attach a lug or block 11 at each side of the cup by means of screws 13, but any other practical method of attachment may be used. For specially made mouthpieces, the lugs may be cast integrally with the cups. The shanks 5 of the lip-holding members 4 are removably attached to the lugs 11 by the screws 12.

I claim:

1. In a cup-shaped mouthpiece for wind instruments, a cup, a lug on opposite sides thereof, and a wing earned by each lug, extending forwardly of the cup on a line toward the corners of the mouth and extending laterally from said line around thecup toward the central portions of the lips.

2. In a cup-shapedmouthpiece for wind instruments, a cup, alug on opposite sides thereof, and means fondetachably seouring" V to each lug any of a plurality of lip-holding members.

3. In a cup-shaped mouthpiece for ind bead atthem uth' thereOf, and lip-holding members extending from the cup toward the corners ofthe mouth and arising from the 'cup below the end face of the bead and extendin gradually beyond the said face of the bead. i V

5. In a cup-shaped mouthpiece for Wind instruments, a cup having a circumferential bead at the mouth thereof, and lizp hcilding members extending from the cup toward the corners of the mouth and arising from the cup below the end face of the bead and extending gradually beyond the said face of the bead, the wings extending lateral-1y iinto ears which slope rearwardly toward their freeends. f h

iSigned at Pittsburgh, Pa.,this 7 day of March, 1919. v

r BRUNO CRISTIANO.

Copies of this patent may be obtained forfiye cents each, by addressing the G0m 1'n issio ner of Patents,

' Washington, I). G. i 

